Hello

 Anyone still there?

For any actual life signs please visit my Instagram -  there's always a bunch of weird stories and every 100 years on a full moon there will also be a post.

Maybe I'll post here again... sometimes... idk.

PS: Yes. The second horse from the right on that 2017 post is now mine ;) 

A lot has happened in the last few years.

Knights, Horses and Fire

One of the things I found out pretty soon after we moved to Dieburg is, that we do, in fact, have a stunt riding team in town! How cool is that? 

They also arrange a Knight's Spectaculum every year with a tiny but cozy medieval market, a Knight's tournament and a fire show with horses (!). 

Another great advantage is: We can walk to get there and back which could have been a great hint to drink more mead but for some reason we didn't. Will not make the same mistake next year as it was pretty tasty mead they served ;) The marked itself was very small but nice and we bought some handmade soaps and a tiny necklace made of a horseshoe-nail. Not that spectacular and I could have made that last one myself, I know, but they had far more fancy pieces which I simply couldn't afford and I wanted to buy at least something from them!
There were also almost as much food stalls as market stalls with a diversity of great and tasty food.

The highlights, of course, were the tournament and fire show!

The story was funny and full of action but a bit confusing (?) sometimes... but really entertaining! I also recognized a few of the knights from Hayner Burgfest last year which promised a good show in advance :) The fire show, however, was THE highlight when it got dark!

If you want to see beautiful non-blurry pictures please take a look at Paul Photography's awesome pictures right >>here!<<

We will surely go next year too to support this great team!

Hello 2017 and goodbye 2016

Happy new year everyone! 

What a bumpy ride the last year has been which, at some point, applies to every year [kinda repeating myself here]~! 

One of my big highlights was our trip to Scotland. It was our first vacation together for Hannes and me and we had a great time in Edinburgh. Such a beautiful city and there is still so much more to explore! So we definitely will be back some time! We also got along pretty well regarding that I was at a mental low at the time, which sadly dominated most of 2016. I started to draw again, which I hadn't done much for around 5 years I think. I'm very pessimistic about my art but I'm happy I do finally draw again and want to keep it up! Get better!!! 

I got to be maid of honor at my aunts medieval wedding in summer which was an exciting experience. The wedding was sooo~ beautiful and took place at the Ronneburg. The had the loveliest garments and many guests where clad in medieval or casual fitting clothes. We got a special show with the castles birds of prey and a herald was narrating through the evening which was a lot of fun!

I managed to start working out on a more or less regular basis during summer as we got some fitness supplies and lost one pant size! :) I also reduced a lot of my sugar consumption and got motivated from Don Saladino's videos! He's the personal trainer of my actor crush and so I came to see pics of a sweaty Sebastian Stan but got so caught up in the casual tone and fun those guys are having in their sessions that it actually motivates me a lot. Those guys have a lot of fun and it's literally just giant kids being hilarious. I love that. Also Don is doing a lot of Q&A's regarding fitness questions and has a very good attitude towards the whole fitness and healthy eating thing. And of cause there is a sweaty Seb every now and then! XD 

One of my coworkers got a beautiful baby boy this autumn and I'm quite in love with little Arthur since I got to hold him for a while ♥ On the other hand I missed a great opportunity while Supernatural actor Osric Chau was visiting our store and as I identified him I was to shy and thought he might be annoyd of this to ask him for a picture and tell him how I liked his character in the show... missed chance indeed. He posted something about our store on his instagram though :)

In general at work I'm doing much more office work now. Stuff I've done for a few years now anyway but now I was able to actually be in the office most of the time and not doing it in the store where customers and the phone are distracting me all the time. I enjoy serving customers in the store but being around people for so many hours a day for all those years now paid it's tribute. I'm a person who needs to be alone sometimes to fill my social batteries and it has gotten harder and harder. As 2016 ended with a bang and big news for out company I'm looking forward to what is to come this year! January will be tough as we move the office and storage rooms to a bigger building in another city. The store in Frankfurt will be closed for good end of January and we will focus much more on our huge online customer community and have a storage sale once a month. The new webshop will be badass! I have to take my car to work then which has pros and cons and I will see how this works out. The rail ticket is at 178€ a month now and fees will be raised again this month... so I actually might save a few bucks. We will see~ :) 

In autumn I also got to finally try horseback archery! I was pretty nervous since the description said we will ride bareback which I hadn't done in ages despite a tiny bareback lesson at my stable in which I was a sissy and didn't dare to lope even though I rode our gentle senior that day.

The clinic took place on a weekend at a beautiful location. The group was only 5 people small which was really good, as we all had more time to learn. Otherwise I was literally the 5th wheel as the others where a couple and two friends. We did a few really funny warm up games from martial arts and I was really clumsy at the beginning. All the others had done martial arts prior and had a much better coordination. We started with ground work at the first day learning how to shoot properly and instinctively and nock the arrows without looking. We did this also while walking around and at the end of the day everyone got to shoot a few arrows from horseback while another participant lead the horse. The next day we started with warm ups and nocking + shooting arrows while walking, running and jumping and did some balance training. Then it was time to ride! We luckily had some suede bareback pads on the ponies which made me far more relaxed at the whole loping bareback thing and I'm proud of me I did it (yeah I'm a sissy I know). Bali the Huzule pony was working with me and did a good deal in calming me down too ♥! I didn't get to shoot in lope though as I was so occupied in riding and the time where you could actually aim and shoot was limited but as only two of the five participants managed to shoot while loping I'm OK with that. 

I got a lot of good things and confidence from that weekend and shooting and landing an arrow from horseback, even if it was only in walk, was an awesome feeling! The woman holding the clinic impressed me pretty much with all the things she new and had done in her life. What a strong and awe-inspiring person! I would love to continue horseback archery with her but It is just to expansive for me and even if I could somehow get the money I'm afraid of not being able to continue it afterwards for I not have a horse of my own :/ But it will definitely not be the last time for me doing this!

2016 I haven't been at the stable as much as I wanted to and even had a span of two months where I wasn't there at all... but I managed to take part in a clinic about longing and had some great training lessons and also jumped again with the rascal pony. I'm now taking lessons on Saturdays and have a lovely adult group now with great people! Hannes also took some riding lessons and might have a few more so he can come on forest adventures with me some time~ or we can do a fancy ranch vacation as pictured in the movie City Slickers XD  

So this was my pretty rough report on 2016 and we spent new years eve with good food and mead on the sofa watching TV. At 0:00 we clinked glasses and went outside to see the fireworks and wish a happy new year to the neighborhood. The neighbors had lot's of fireworks and one had put up a firebasked on the sidewalk. So the whole street was standing at the fire drinking and talking. What a lovely night! We got inside at 2am :)

my resolutions for 2017

- more blogging -

- finally updating my Ghoulqueen FB page -

- more drawing/crafting/sewing -

- doing archery more often -

- making the apartment cool and comfy -

- more time at the stable/more trailrides -

- continuing healthy eating and sports/going swimming -

- getting rid of an old dept -

- awareness, calm and love - 

The wild hunt is out and about

[trying to break the blog-silence with a tiny life sign]

I really like winter because it is a cozy time at home with candles, blankets and warm drinks, the cats like to snuggle a lot more and I also enjoy the icy cold morning walks. I wish we would have had more snow the last years! In my hometown -20°C was common in winter and we usually had lot's of snow. I like to say I'm "growing soft" with the kinda warm weather here in Dieburg and I really hope for snow this winter and a cold, at least for a few days, that manages to kill those nasty mosquitos! :P

But until now we haven't seen any snow this winter and it is not nameably cold~ we had just a few frosty mornings.

I have my problems with getting into festive spirits for the last few years for various reasons and so I don't look forward to the holidays as much as a few years ago~ but I look forward to a lot of good food though! Starting with our by now traditional Yule dinner with venison from a acquainted hunter and a solitary blot at the 21st. Sometimes we have friends and fellow heathens for guests, sometimes it's just Hannes and I.

On 24th of December the true madness begins~ traditionally on my mothers side of the family,

25th on my dad's side and 26th at my mother in laws place after which I am only able to move by rolling around XD

Autumn is here!

With the autumn equinox today autumn has arrived! It might sound silly but you can smell it in the air now. I also really love the cold mornings and am happy to be able to wear layers again and the cats are more cuddly than in summer ^^; I tidied up my garden a little bit and harvested lavender for little bouquets and gathered hazelnuts and welcomed the season with incense and little offerings.

Autumn is my favourite season of ALL! The colors of nature, colder weather, pumpkins and pumpkin spice (!) everywhere, the Autumn market at castle Ronneburg and shopping for Halloween stuff~ or in my case: every day clothing and house deco! I'm also looking forward for a two day beginners class of horseback archery with IEHAS. Something I wanted to do for quite a while now and never got the chance to do. 

Of knights and sunny days

The medieval market in Dreieichenhain ist one of the prettiest markets in our region: Magical location, beautiful ambient lots of vendors and stuff to buy, tasty food, knights tourney, shows and music and so much more!

Thanks to the hot and sunny late summer weather the market was well visited and we had to wait a while on the main ticket line. Since it was not far from our meeting point that day we waited patiently (there are two more entrances around the castle, but this is the closest to the parking area ;) )We then met up with some dear friends and started with having breakfast on the castle pond in this lovely almost too hot weather. As always there have been so many booths with food and treasures that I surely missed some of them even after a few rounds through and around the castle but I found enough loot for one day for sure!

The knights tourneys at Dreieichenhain are always entertaining and we even witnessed a real proposal at the end! The team seemed to have kept it a good secret from the future bride as she was confused and shaking already when she was lead in [heart]. And so the "bad" black knight was the winner of hearts at the end and got a lot of cheers from the crowd! Our favourite however was the green knight ;)

There also was a archery competition for everyone, all you needed was a traditional wooden bow. Since my horsebow is sadly not fully made of wood we just watched for a while :)

Bagpipes are weapons of war!!!

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, 

Great chieftain o the puddin'-race!

Finally I found my way to beautiful Scotland even if we lingered in Edinburgh only, with a little trip to the Highlands...

↟ Day 1 - Saturday ↟

We took an early flight to Edinburgh from Frankfurt am Main airport. Security got much more annoying since my last flight and all those scanner-gate-thingies confused me and the security people were clearly annoyed too. The flight however was a pleasant one and since Hannes has celiac desease I got his sandwich too, hrhr!

Edinburgh airport is a small one and we found our way to the AIR Link bus (Yay, free WiFi!) into the city really easy. We got off at Waverly Bridge and met up with Hannes mum who has been at Aiona for a week and wanted to spend the weekend in Edinburgh with us. We brought our suitcases to her hotel until our check in and went off to the Royal Mile for scones and tea at the Deacons House café (ohh the scones were sooooo tasty there!). I wore my Winter Soldier longsleeve that day (with printed metal arm) and got shout outs from some people who were clearly team Bucky!

In the afternoon we got our suitcases and checked in to our cute little apartment for the week. Not far from Haymarket and right above the Mad Hatter pub.

We met up with Hannes mum again afterwards and went to her hotels restaurant for dinner. They took good care of Hannes and we all had a lovely high standard dinner. The seabass was so delicious!

After dinner the three of us went to take the double dead ghost tour through the vaults and visited the McKenzie Poltergeist at Grayfriars Kirkyard. At the end we even got locked into THE mausoleum.

The tour was really really good and creepy with an awesome tourguide and a lot of creepy stories. It sure is a lot to walk and the guide has a fast pace but I highly recommend it and would definitely take it again!

I got a book about the Mc Kenzie Poltergeist at the "Wee shop at the cemetary" which I wanted to buy for a while anyway and the shop merchant said I reminded him of Harley Quinn because of my hair ^^;

We went back to the apartment late that night.

↟ Day 2 - Sunday ↟

We had a good nights rest the first night and a lovely breakfast at our apartment in the morning and met up with Hannes mum again. We went to see Greyfriars at daylight. What a beautiful graveyard! There are a lot of pretty old gravestones and crypts and when I found a stone with "James Buchanan" written on it I lost it for a bit... was glad it didn't read Barnes after ^^; I surely could have spent a lot more time there but not everyone is so fond of graveyards.

The Grassmarket has a lot of lovely little shops and apparently a lot of tweed stores. I LOVE TWEED! Sadly it is very expansive though... and I didn't want to be one of those people who touch everything and don't buy stuff. My buddy Marco would have loved the stores~ I'm sure :)

I got myself a Batman totebag in one of the nerdier shops called Swish.

The Scottish National Museum was closing early on Sunday so we postponed this for Monday morning and went to find a café instead. While trying to find something for Hannes (he didn't trust the glutenfree cakes in Deacons House because they where displayed lying close to the normal ones) we ended up at Starbucks at the Royal Mile. Much wow! Don't get me wrong! I love Starbucks (more than I should) but it was just so boring because it wasn't any different from our local Starbucks (except for more Sandwich choices).

We went for dinner to Monicas hotel again, since it was really good and safe for Hannes. I got a incredible steak with green asparagus and potato wedges and a rose Crème Brûlée for dessert! All three of us got steak; medium for Monica, medium done for Hannes and medium rare for me; and you could see the difference in all of them! That's something you won't see often so I was pretty impressed. And it was really good!

↟ Day 3 - Monday ↟

After breakfast we met up with Monica again (for the last time this trip) and went to the National Museum together. They had a special Celts exhibit which was very interesting. Including the Celts Kings statue from Glauberg not far from where we live. The museum itself was sooooo big! It is not manageable to see all of it in one day! So we decided to go for lunch before Hannes mum had to go to the airport. We ended up at Mums Comfort food which was a tip at one of the glutenfree travel blogs. It turned out that the owner was celiac herself and the staff was well educated on the issue! Hannes was able to eat nearly everything in the diner and had a hard time to decide. I went straight for the Haggis (which also was homemade and glutenfree so Hannes could have a taste) and it was so delicious! My dad always said "Try Haggis! It's the best thing ever!" and he didn't promise too much :) [we have plans to make our own Haggis some time, haha]  Also I had Irn Bru, a Scottish soda, which I liked really much and a very tasty Reese's milkshake. Afterwards we said our goodbye and parted.

Stuffed we rolled went to Wawerly mall for shopping. I bought too much at the Bodyshop. I went in to get some moisturizing cream since I forgot mine and got out with a bunch of stuff... but also with a great discount so I think it was ok. Also I got a small wobble head Ant Man from a games shop and my hun bought me a fancy shirt at Pulp.

↟ Day 4 - Tuesday ↟

I was in a really grumpy mood that day~

It was raining a lot, which is to expect in Edinburgh I guess, but we found our way to Edinbugh castle nonetheless. It was really lovely up there anyway and the view must be impressive when the weather is nice! I especially loved the cavalry and military museums. What can I say? I have a huge love for uniforms and they had so many stories and things there. I enjoyed the info about the cavalry and the horses and there was a lot to look upon. Also the war memorial was pretty impressive in a way, with all those books filled with names of the fallen.

Later we were pretty soaked and cold and since the castle cafés have been so crowded we went back down to the city into a very crappy small café where I drank the sweetest (and that's not a good thing) Chai Latte I ever drank in my life! It was so damn sweet I couldn't drink it x__x It was like drinking pure syrup! Yuck! So that didn't lift my mood much but the Burgers we had at *drumroll* Burgers *badummtss* where so good (and it was the Burger Burger btw *badumtss*). They had gluten free options there as well and Hannes really enjoyed his giant burger and cheese fries :D Also cool: Hoodoo Lemonade with chili. Fancy stuff!

↟ Day 5 - Wednesday ↟

We skipped breakfast at "home" and went for a full English Scottish (!) breakfast at Mums. It was huge and absolutely delicious! Gluten free and perfectly safe for Hannes of cause! After this breakfast for warriors we went to Mary Kings Close. The tour was really interesting and a lot of fun. The guide was so funny and they sold a lot of Pest merchandise there. Shirts with pest doctors and the black death microbe from giant microbes (which I already have of cause) and so on.

We then went to Deacons House for tea and it was then that I realised something was off. It seemed I caught a bladder infection, maybe the other day at the castle, and it was getting worse pretty fast. Since we had booked a tour to the highland for the next day we decided it would be best to buy lots of tea and spend the rest of the day at the apartment. I spent the evening writing postcards, watching Ghost Hunter docus and strange shows like "Stupid Man, Smart Phone" and playing on the DS.

↟ Day 6 - Thursday ↟

Highlands! Finally!

The original plan was to rent a car and drive around by ourselves. But as I don't have a credit card and Hannes doesn't have a drivers licence it was not possible to book a car in advance. The driver had to be the one inhabiting the credit card used for booking... and I didn't want to gamble.

But as a tourist city Edinburgh of cause provided several Highland tours for tourists. Definitely not the same as exploring by yourself but better than not going at all! So we went for it! I managed to get over the 8 (?) hour trip without drinking much and taking a few painkillers.

The busdriver was a really great guide and told us so much about the Highlands, Lowlands, Whiskey, Scots and Scotland in General. The tour picked us up at the Royal Mile and drove up to the highlands~ we stopped at Kilmahog, Glencoe, Fort William, Loch Ness and Pitlochry and then back to Edinburgh. Yes it was just a tourist tour but it was the best we could get and I wouldn't have missed this! The highlands are sooooo pretty. I hope I will get the chance to visit them once more and hopefully on my own pace then with the ability to explore. They have lovely small holiday cottages there :) Although we sat in the bus most of the time we were pretty exhausted when we got back. Grabbing something to eat at the supermarket on our way to the apartment and dropped to bed shortly after.

↟ Day 7 - Friday ↟

On Friday I really felt like shit. The infection has gotten worse and I was in pain. Eventually I got scared because of the pain and we called a doctor helpline thingy. The nurse asked a few questions and I told her it's better with painkillers but I was really uncomfortable because the thought of damaged kidneys and stuff got to my mind...idk. But the nurse was like "Oh painkillers work? Great! Take more of them and drink some Whiskey, everything should be fine then!"

So I did this and tried to sleep, which I did a lot on that day. Hannes went to the city alone checking out a gluten free patisserie and stuff. When he got back he had a little package for me.

A small Captain America bear from the Build a bear store to cheer me up Q___Q I called him Steeby!

I spend the whole day in bed.

↟ Day 8 - Saturday ↟

I felt much better already. Apparently sleeping a lot and painkillers really did work their magic...

It was the first really sunny day and we decided to take one of those bus city tours with the Horrible Histories commentary which was a lot of fun. Afterwards we went shopping, strolling through the city and dinner at Mums (again! Because it was awesome!) and in the evening we took the Ghostbus tour! This one was so hilarious!!!! Those guys have been really great and funny~ entertainment at it's best including jumpscares, patchouly, a graveyard and a creepy ghost on the bus. Really really highly recommended! :)

Sadly, this was our last day in Edinburgh and it was time to pack our stuff already as soon as we got back to the apartment.

↟ Day 9 - Sunday ↟

Bye bye Edinburgh

We got up early and cleaned the apartment and checked if we got all our stuff. Since we had quite a few hours until our flight and no idea where to store our luggage we went to the airport and stored it there. We took the bus back to the city and to the ocean terminal for window shopping and so on and got a few last minute souvenirs.

Back at the airport we were finally allowed to check in. I had some fun with the airport security people there and then we grabbed some snacks and waited at the gate. Best announcement: "Ball games are not allowed on this airport. Please stop playing football on gate 12!"

Later on the plane we raised the tomato juice in memory of my grandpa (who loved to drink it on flights) and had a pleasant flight home~

Our lovely landlady was so kind to pick us up at the train station when we got back.

Edinburgh is a really really lovely city! We met a lot of great and kind people there and we had a lot of fun despite my illness. I guess we will definitely come back to Scotland and also visit Edinburh again for more ghost stories, comfort food and all the stuff we have missed :)

Umm... hello!?

It's nearly May 2016 already!? When the hell did that happen???

One of the things on my list for this year was "more blogging" but as it's already May now it seems it didn't start that well... although I got a few unfinished posts here. Oh yeah!
But despite all the stress and chaos I also feel kind of motivated to do stuff at the moment!
We already planned a lot for this year, big and small, and I hope there will be a lot to post about!


Last year was really weird and chaotic running by so fast with a lot of things to happen. Some of them good, others bad. Like it is with years. I think it's just what they do and there are always things that trigger the "It was my worst year ever" stuff...
Always!
There was a lot of stupid stuff, stress and chaos but I want to focus on the positive things and I also don't want to give a full review of 2016. Would be a bit too late now that it's May already wouldn't it?
So I spent much time at the stable: Training lessons, trails (one of them was 6 hours!) helped with events and finally got a riding badge I wanted to train for for a few years now. We adopted two adorable black cats in summer and the one year anniversary is drawing near. We found a wonderful group of people from our region, a heathen hearth so to speak. And there were so many small and beautiful things throughout the year~

So here I am 2016!

Autumn is time for handicrafts - Naalbinding

Last year I finally learned how to do Naalbinding/Needlebinding - an old scandinavian handicraft.

I wanted to learn this for a few years now since I'm really interested in the viking age and everything related to it.

My friend Lena had this lovely needle made for me at one of the markets we visited last year. Our friend Harald der Knoppmecher made it from a piece of pear-wood :) I optained a second needle from him earlier this year. Smaller and with a lovely structure!

The first project I made to learn how to do it was a pair of pulse warmers~ then I tried a hat which turned out waaay to big. The second hat I made was for our friends 1,5yrs old babygirl and fitted just perfect. Her mum told me she's loving the soft hat made from green fluffy wool [heart] 

Sadly I forgot to take a picture of it x_x Here's some of the giant ball of wool and midst production ;)

Still got a lot from that wool, also blue colored~ :D

I made an Alpaca loop-scarf for my mum (last years yule present) and am currently working on more pulsewarmers for me (yes I like those). Next project: Socks :)

Loop scarf for my mum

Solstice weekend feasting

My hun turned 30 this weekend and together with the summer solstice we spend two lovely days with friends and family and lot's of food!

I would have loved to have a fire outside for the solstice but we we're so exhausted and it was raining~ so I decided to light some candles instead and spend the night relaxing and pondering on the sofa. Small offerings were made in the morning though :)

Historische Stadtrechtsfeier Gelnhausen or: Another medieval market

Every 5 years the beautiful city of Gelnhausen is holding a big medieval 3-day event. 

The historical core of the city is very pretty and during the event flooded with merchants and people showing old handicrafts and stuff. It really is a beautiful setting!

Sadly, this time they had no knights turney, which they had at the past two events 2010 and 2005~ but it was pretty as always. And again I took just a few pictures with my mobile cam since I again forgot my camera -.-

Oh and of couse here is our small treasure haul ;)